


Balance

by ConfessionForAnotherTime



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bad Flirting, Bad Puns, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Sparring
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 11:38:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12793752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConfessionForAnotherTime/pseuds/ConfessionForAnotherTime
Summary: Wash, seeking to have his two relationships work, seeks a balance between the two.Written for the RvB Reverse Big Bang 2017 :D





	Balance

**Author's Note:**

> Written to go with the [art](http://redwryvernart.tumblr.com/post/167779114920/my-art-for-this-years-reverse-big-bang-decided) by [Redwryvernart.](http://redwryvernart.tumblr.com/)

And it was at that moment, Wash knew he fucked up. He still ached from his hospital stay under the watchful eye of Doctor Grey and while he wanted to get himself back into fighting shape, Locus  _ detaching his own fucking arm _ was not the move he’d been looking for when he went to attack the former mercenary. He could hear the hearty laugh from Carolina and saw her stance falter for just a moment when he shot her a glare over his shoulder. 

“Why in the hell are you guys throwing me and letting me fall so hard? I’m still recovering!” Wash’s failure to keep the whine out of his voice made Carolina laugh more and Locus took the opportunity to charge her while her guard was down, dropping the shoulder where Wash had taken his arm. He knocked her down, straddled her waist, and pinned her.

“Get off me, Locus,” Carolina said, pushing him off her and crawling up to her feet. 

Wash grabbed her hand when she extended it to him, helping her stand, and then went and did the same for Locus. He handed back the prosthetic, cringing at the sound of the arm clunking into place. 

“Doesn’t that hurt?” Wash could see the wince of pain when the arm connected. “That has to hurt.”

“It does, but it serves its purpose.” Locus rolled his shoulder and flexed his fingers, popping the knuckles on his non-mechanical hand. “Are we finished for the day, or do you two want to keep going?” 

Wash looked over his shoulder. He could see Caboose had rigged up a makeshift scoreboard that he and Simmons were managing, and he was trailing Carolina and Locus by 10 points. Carolina led Locus by three, which made his own five points look even more meager in comparison. 5-15-18.  _ Really, Wash? You’re better than this, even if you are injured. _

“How are you keeping score, Caboose?” Wash called across the training field. “I feel like I should have more than just five points.”

Caboose came running over. “Yes, well, each time one of them throws you, they get a point too. So it’s not just about how much you can pin them. Yes. I mean it’s also about how much they can throw you. I haven’t seen you throw them at all and Carolina isn’t exactly heavy. She’s very light.”

Wash turned back to Carolina, noting her raised eyebrow. “Caboose. You carried me when I was out of armor. That should hardly count.”

“Yes, well, you still don’t weigh that much with armor. I remember when you tried to kick Temple’s guys and you just fell on your face after you kicked them down and carrying you then wasn’t hard either,” Caboose continued, pressing his two index fingers together. He was doing his best to look anywhere but at Carolina.

“You fell on your face?” Wash stared at her in surprise. 

“You got shot in the throat because you didn’t stay back and wandered out into the battlefield in a fit of delirium?”

“I see your point.” Wash looked over at Locus and shrugged. He couldn’t be faulted for what he did when he thought he was seeing things. How could he have known it was dangerous to walk out there?

Wash turned, noticing that Caboose had already run back to Grif and the others, sorting through a series of cards that he would hold up when one of them did something. Not numbers to rate how well they did, but drawings. It made sense to Caboose. 

“Come on, Wash, get your ass in there!” he heard Grif call from across the field, just in time to narrowly miss Carolina’s fist being swung at his face. 

“Hey! What the  _ fuck! _ I thought we were on the same team!” Wash gathered his bearings, wide-eyed and ready to square off with the two of them. 

“There are no teams in this, Washington. We’re sparring.” The coldness with which Locus delivered the line made Wash squint, which only intensified when Carolina grinned, nodded and held her fist out to bump against Locus’. He returned the gesture, and Wash noted the uneasy look Carolina made at even initiating the contact in the first place. 

“The fuck are you two planning?”

Carolina shrugged, readying her stance and lunged at Locus instead. “Don’t over-analyze it, Wash.” She grunted the moment she had to steady herself as Locus dodged her attack. She came back around, kicking the back of Locus’ knees out from under him as Wash gained his bearings and rushed at Locus. Locus found his footing again quickly, moving out of Wash’s way. Locus stuck his foot out, throwing Wash off-balance and suppressing a grin when he faceplanted again on the rough terrain of the sparring grounds outside the base. 

“Wash, what the hell?” Carolina asked with a laugh. “You’re supposed to be working on improvements, not landing yourself back in the hospital.”

“Well, is it  _ my _ fault that  _ you two _ keep looking for ways to  _ throw  _ me every which  _ way _ any chance you get?” Wash took Locus’ hand when he extended it - his right hand, not the mechanical left. Locus pulled Wash up, holding him up with a gentle hand around his waist. Wash slumped against him, resting his head on Locus’ shoulder. “You two are being assholes.”

Carolina shrugged. “You should know better than anyone that keeping your bearings is the best thing in ensuring your survival. Come on. We should go hit the showers.” Carolina jerked her head in the direction of the base and Locus directed Wash, his hand still securely around Wash’s waist as the two made their way into what they now called home.

Wash nuzzled his cheek into Locus’ shoulder, looking back at the others who had already started to head inside. He didn’t miss the soft kiss that Locus pressed into his hair, now scruffy and brown from lack of access to dye to keep it the blonde of his youth. Maybe they would be able to hit a supply shop soon. Wash felt Locus’ fingers rub small circles into his hip.  _ Sparring or not, the cool down was nice. _

_ \--- _

The three of them shed their exosuits in the larger bathroom in the base, tossing them into the automated cleaner designed to take out all of the body odors, dirt and grime that would build up over the course of the day. Sarge had insisted on one when the bases were built for them to stay in, citing Grif as the primary reason why an easy way to clean would be best.

Wash grinned and pulled Locus in to join him in the shower, flashing a welcoming smile to Carolina. The showers inside the base had several small private stalls if needed, however, the custom of military bases left them in the open. 

“Come on. I know you stink. I stink. Big guy over here stinks.” Wash ducked, expected the grump he heard from Locus behind him to come with a swipe of the paw-like hand. Wash paused, remembering that was  _ Maine _ who acted like that, sheepishly looking back at Locus before creeping into the shower. 

Wash adjusted the spray, still dismayed that the military would recruit such tall members, yet wouldn’t accommodate for height when it came to the shower heads. 

“Who in the hell designed these?” Wash gestured to the shower head, leaning over to pull Carolina in as Locus stepped in behind her. Wash kissed her and she dodged the second kiss, moving to stand behind Wash instead once Locus was behind her. 

“Stay where I can see you,  _ Locus. _ ” 

Wash held her arms around his waist and frowned slightly. The three of them had been playing this delicate balancing act for the last few months. Locus rotated his shoulder, popping the joints and flexing his mechanical fingers, just staring at her in response. Locus leaned forward and kissed Wash’s forehead, handing him the bar of soap. 

“Be nice,” Wash whispered back to her, leaning into her touch as she pressed herself to him and allowed the water to wash away the grime from their sparring. “He’s trying to make right, just like we did. Are doing. Whatever.” Carolina squinted up at Wash, turning away from the both of them. She quickly washed herself down, staring Locus down like Sokka touting Water Tribe Out before grabbing her towel and leaving. The spray from shaking her head dry was not missed as she purposely signaled to Wash to talk to her later without saying a word. 

“It’s a good thing she’s always so inviting.” Locus reached for the soap and Wash slumped against the cold tile. 

“I’m working on it. Her. Talking to her. It’s complicated, okay?” Wash pushed his foot into the spray, reveling in the warmth and attempted to figure out what he would do next. Or how. 

“Not very hard. She’s going to figure it out and I don’t want there to be lies between any of us if I want her to think about trusting me again. I meant it when I told her that I wanted to make good on all the bad things I’ve done, even if it takes the rest of my life and then some. I just can’t do that if I’m lying to her right off the bat by not telling her that I have feelings for you. And by the sounds of it, that you’re concealing that you have feelings for me, too.” Locus washed off the rest of the way, handing Wash the soap before holding out a hand to help him up. He pressed a quick kiss to Wash’s lips. “Talk to her soon? Please? I’ll be doing a perimeter check tonight if you need me gone when it happens.”

Wash nodded. “Tonight.”

\---

_ You can take the soldier out of the war, but you can’t take the war out of the soldier. _ Wash watched as Locus slipped out for the evening, citing that he needed to clear his head. 

“He clears his head every night at ten pm. It’s more than a little obvious that he’s looking for threats on a planet where we know we’re the only people here,” Carolina scoffed, blowing her hair out of her face. The blonde had been growing in for some time now, though her hair had darkened with her age. She no longer resembled the ghost of her mother. Now she looked more like her father, like Leonard. Wash ran his fingers through her hair once she finished brushing it out, stopping her as she reached for the hair tie. 

“Leave it. I don’t get to see it down often enough.” He took a seat behind her, massaging his fingers into her scalp. She settled against his lap and he looked down as he massaged her head, cocking his to the side. “So how much longer before you finally let Locus in?”

Carolina’s face hardened, her mouth forming a thin line as she looked away from him. Wash waited for his answer, still massaging small circles into the pressure points on her skull to soothe her after the long day of training. 

“Wash. It isn’t that easy. You know that.” Wash turned, trying to meet her eyes and finding she was avoiding his for now. Wash relaxed a little, knowing there was nothing he could do, releasing her head from his hands and rubbing her arms. 

“I know. Trust me, this isn’t easy for me either, but I got to see parts of him that you didn’t get to. When he was taking me to Chorus, when he was risking his own safety to ensure that I lived, he waited. He waited day and night in that jail cell until I was able to tell everyone that he wasn’t the same person we knew back when he and Felix were around. You know you can see it. He wouldn’t have released us when Temple had our armor on lockdown if he was just going to kill us. He wouldn’t have helped us when we had Temple’s lackeys to deal with. There’s so much he wouldn’t have done if he was still the same person who helped decimate Chorus. I don’t expect you to forgive him, but at least try to understand that we have also been a part of things where we killed people. We aren’t blameless either.” Wash brushed the hair out of her eyes when she finally looked up at him, her gaze cold. 

“When we killed people, we thought that they were the enemy. I didn’t know that the Director was manipulating us and neither did you. We didn’t know that he lied, cheated, stole and broke us for his own personal gain. That’s the difference between us and him, Wash. He did all of that willingly. He did it all without thinking twice about what was right or wrong.” Carolina sat up, spinning on the bed to face Wash and stare him down. 

“Imagine that we did know what was going on. We knew that we were killing UNSC soldiers. We knew we were the bad guys. We knew that we were committing crimes with each mission fueled by that leaderboard that manipulated us into being the best. What then? Would you have changed what you did?” Wash frowned when she pulled away from him after resting his hand on her knee. 

“I would have done the right thing.”

“Then why didn’t you do the right thing as soon as you knew what you did was wrong and help the UNSC bring the Director to justice? Was it because he was your father or was it because you couldn’t bear to admit you had been manipulated?” Wash recoiled from the sting in his cheek as soon as the words left his mouth, the severity of the slap echoing. He held a hand up to his face, still amazed that she had struck him.

“You didn’t know what happened then because you didn’t see  _ Maine _ pulling Eta and Iota from me and trying to kill me. I couldn’t do anything conventionally at that point beyond survive. So I did and you fucking know that.” Carolina looked away from him, raising an eyebrow when he pulled her back to look at him. 

“No, I didn’t because I was left behind. No one came for me either. North and South were gone by the time I woke up. York had scattered with Delta. Maine was gone. I don’t know how anyone survived the crash, but those that did left. They didn’t bother coming back for me either. It wasn’t until days later when the UNSC wanted to recover everything that the Recovery program came for me. I spent a lot of time with them before joining them. But again, you know that.” He looked down. “No one looked for me either. So I did what I had to, like you.”

“I just don’t get why we keep having this conversation about Locus. He’s come up several times and I don’t get it. I don’t get why you want me to accept him so badly.” Carolina rested her hands in her lap, anger settling for now. 

“I care about him.”

“What?”

“You heard me. I care about him, Carolina. I care about him because when I needed help, he jumped at the opportunity to do it. I know you couldn’t then and you would have in a heartbeat, but he did and… I care about him.” Wash took his turn in looking away from her. 

“What are you trying to say here?” He winced at her almost accusatory tone. 

“I’m saying that I care about both of you. I love you, but I… I love him too.”

Carolina blinked at him. Wash closed his eyes, waiting for the rest of his world to come crashing down around him when he heard the rich laugh come up from her throat. She almost collapsed against him, laughing and looking up at him from his lap. 

“So, your bar is set so low that if someone shows you some basic decency, you just fall for them?” She reached up to smooth the pink area of his cheek where she had slapped him. 

“No. But I want my current partner to be okay with the idea of me potentially exploring a relationship with someone else. I’m not saying you have to like him or even be in a relationship with him, but I’m asking for you to be civil and let me explore this. I’ve spent so much time being alone and without anyone, I want to see if this can work.” Wash opened his eyes, smiling softly at her face and reaching down to smooth over her cheek. “Please?”

“I’ll try.”

“It’s something.” He leaned down to kiss her, nuzzling his nose against hers. “I just need to bring it up with him. He needs someone too. He and I have talked and the shit that he’s done and been through is as intense as our shit. Like, when we get a chance, some group therapy is needed.”

“Therapy?” The low voice popped in from the doorway as Wash broke another kiss with Carolina. Wash looked up just in time to see Locus retreat from the doorway to give them some privacy. 

“Yeah, we’re all going to need it.” Wash patted the bed next to him. “Hey, Sam, come here. The two of us need to talk to you.”

\---

Locus hit the ground, cradling the back of his head from where her rapped it against the ground from his fall. Carolina stood triumphantly over him, having lowered her leg from the solid kick to the chest. Carolina grinned. “One would think that you would have enough of this by now. Do you not learn?”

Locus held his hand out to Wash, bracing himself as he leaned to sweep his leg and knock Carolina’s out from under her. “Seems like I do. You always leave yourself open for attack when we spar after you think you have the upper hand. Come on Natalie, you’re better than this.”

Carolina pulled herself up, glaring at Locus and squaring off with him. She got into his face, bring hers closer to his and even balancing up on her boots to get a few more inches on him. She narrowed her eyes. “I always have the upper hand _ , Sam _ .” She leaned in and pecked her lips against his, jumping back and without warning, swung her leg up high. Her foot connected with the side of his face and Locus toppled to the ground.

Wash walked over to stand above Locus.

“Wash, she kissed me.”

“Yep. She did.”

“She's never done that.”

“You know Lina. She can be unpredictable.”

“But why would she kiss me?” Locus pulled himself up again, this time ready to grab her foot should it come flying at his face again.

“I would assume to throw you off?” Wash dodged a punch from Carolina, spinning her into Locus' area of attack. She smirked at Locus and Wash grinned. Carolina had told Wash of her plan. Messing with Locus to see how he would receive her advances as she had grown to like him was part of the plan. 

Wash watched Locus hold back, still unsure of what he was up against. 

“Dude, she’s not going to bite you. Well, unless you ask her to. Okay besides that, like any other time, we’re here to spar. We’re not here to see how she’s going to mess with you or anything like that.” Wash nodded as he watched Locus, not realizing how much attention Locus was paying to him until Carolina knocked him flat on his back. She got up to straddle his waist, throwing volley after volley of punches against him as he held his arms up to block. 

“NOW WHAT?” Locus called over to Wash, clearly confused at how aggressive she was being. Wash shrugged back at him, snorting when Locus kicked his legs against the ground to roll himself onto her. He held her arms down, staring her down. Wash noticed the flush of his cheeks despite Locus’ dark skin as he looked at their position. 

“I didn’t know you felt that way, Sam,” Carolina purred as she leaned up to whisper into his ear. Locus’ eyes widened, then narrowed. 

“I’m not falling for your trick this time, Carolina. Now fight fair.” Locus got up from between her legs and held his arm out to her to help her up. 

“Like you would know what fighting fair looks like.”

Wash swallowed in delight, adjusting the front of his exosuit to make things a little more comfortable as he watched the two of them spar. The fluid motions in the way they moved coupled with the remarks and half-cocked answers to the other’s quips was enough to make Wash feel at ease.  _ I think they’re beginning to like each other.  _ Wash felt his heart swell at the thought, though he winced when Locus knocked the wind out of Carolina after tossing her. 

Wash ran to her side, making sure she would be okay. She nodded quickly and held her hand out. 

“Let me at him. I’m going to make him wish he hadn’t done that.” Carolina popped her neck and strode toward Locus, already taking a few steps back at the juggernaut that was headed his way. 

A few moments later, Locus was laid out like how Carolina had been just minutes before. Wash couldn’t help but laugh at how evenly matched the two were and how much they mirrored one another. Wash bent down so he could help Locus up, crouching first when Locus motioned to speak with him. 

“I want her to kick my ass. This… I love it.” Locus shot a look in Carolina’s direction and Wash could tell from his face that there was more to it than what Locus had just stated. 

“Yeah, trust me, I love it when she kicks my ass too. Give her a fair fight though. She likes to win on her own merit.” Wash laughed at the incredulous look on Locus’ face. 

“I’m trying everything I can here not to get messed up by her and she’s throwing everything at me. I’m not losing on purpose if that’s what you’re trying to imply,  _ Washington. _ ”

“Of course not.”

\---

The three of them settled into more of a routine as time went on. Carolina’s animosity seemed dissipate little by little as time went on. She found Locus was one of those people who delivered lines in such a dry and sarcastic tone that Wash groaned loudly. He even protested when the two of them started working out together. 

“No no no. Okay so. No. No. This can’t happen.” Wash held his arms up in an x formation, shaking his head. 

Carolina turned and pointed blinked at him. She handed over one of her hair ties to Locus who had allowed his hair to grown back out over the months he had spent after Chorus. “Why not?”

“Because you two are nuts. No. You can’t go out like that.” Wash stared at Locus’ grey shirt emblazoned with  _ I can’t weight to go to the gym _ while Carolina proudly wore  _ Lift so hard they call me Ernest Hemingweights. _

“Because, you both look ridiculious!” Wash’s voice squeaked as he finished the sentence. He squinted when the two of them started to tug at the hems of their tank tops and shirts, showing off the sculpted abs they had been maintaining. 

“We can go skins today, right Locus?” Carolina looked to Locus for agreement and he nodded, much to Wash’s blush and dismay. 

Donut whistled and Kaikaina catcalled from the other side of the gym, as she waved to Wash from the beach chair she had Tucker fashion for her out of wood planks and a beach towel they had found  _ somewhere.  _ Wash threw his hands up in the air and Carolina and Locus smirked, dropping the hems of their shirts, blowing a kiss to Kai as she groaned.

“I give up. I fucking give up. You two are impossible and I don’t know what to do with either of you because you’re just going to do what you want anyway no matter how weird it makes the three of us loo-  _ what in the fuck are you doing?” _

Having not gone to the gym with the other two at the same time in a while, Wash stared, dumbfounded by what he was watching. The two of them had gone beyond the level of laying on each other’s backs while doing push ups. Instead, Locus made his way over to the pull up bar as Carolina clung to him with her legs. She spent her time pulling her body against his and back into a laying position while her legs wrapped around his waist, somehow not falling as he continued to pull himself up and down, getting his chin over the bar every time. 

Wash blinked several times. 

“It’s pretty hot, isn’t it?” Kaikaina asked, popping a few pieces of popcorn into her mouth and offering some of the bag over to Wash. Wash continued to stare in confusion as to how Carolina would work out doing a form of modified crunches while Locus performed pull ups, but here he was, and he still didn’t understand how it was possible. Kai pulled the bag of popcorn back to herself, leaving Wash to his dazed confusion. “They do this like every day when you’re out  _ running _ or something like that. You may have stamina, but they have the bodies. I mean, not that you don’t have a body, but no one expect a cop to be as ripped as the two of them are. I mean fuck. Are you done with either of them because I could just-”

“Kai!” Tucker called, chastising her. “The three of them aren’t open like we are and you know it. Stop it. Stop trying to fuck any of them. They aren’t into it.”

“But I want them to be in me.” She followed Tucker back to the second chair that he had pulled out, nestling back to watch the fine display of toned muscles and glistening skin. 

“I can be in you later.” Tucker’s quip was barely heard as Carolina finished her set of reps and dismounted off of Locus’ waist. She went over to Wash, snapping her fingers in front of his face and pulling him out of his stupor as soon as she kissed him. 

“Helllloooooo, Carolina to Wash. Something you like?” She bit her lip in that way he liked that set his skin on fire more than it already was from watching the two of them work out. He hadn’t noticed the more visible state of his excitement, though Carolina paid enough attention to save him the embarrassment by helping tuck his erection into the waistband of his pants. She leaned in, whispering into his ear. 

“You should watch when I have Locus stretch me out. You should know as well as I do how  _ strong _ his hands are.” 

Wash swallowed thickly and nodded. 

“Come on. We’re all sweaty and I think the three of us could clean off in the shower.” Locus came up behind Wash, nibbling on his ear before leaning forward to kiss Carolina over Wash’s shoulder. 

Wash nodded again and allowed himself to be led off in the direction of one of the private showers. 

\---

When the three of them collapsed into bed, still damp from the shower several hours later, Locus went to work on massaging Wash’s calves. 

“You’re not usually kept in that position for that long, Wash. Next time we’ll switch up before your leg cramps and one or both of us almost falls and cracks our heads open from fucking in the shower.” Carolina crawled her way up, laying her head on Wash’s chest. Her hair was still damp, leaving droplets everywhere. Wash moaned happily as Locus worked the kink out of his leg, and Wash pressed a kiss to the top of Carolina’s head. 

“No big deal. It’s a known risk that we all take when we take up the shower like that.”

“How did the hot water not run out?” Locus asked as he finished up with Wash’s leg, crawling up the bed to lay his head on Wash’s side opposite Carolina. She stuck her tongue out at him and he leaned over and kissed her, leaving her slightly surprised. The three of them had made the other soft when they were alone. Carolina had relaxed into a playful and calmer state of herself, able to let go of some of her responsibility and just be herself for the first time in her life. 

Locus had also relaxed, and he was less guarded, smiling more in the presence of the other two. Both developments pleased Wash equally as he had grown more and more attached as time had gone on and he didn’t want the seemingly delicate alliance this entire relationship teetered on to come toppling down over animosity like it could have in the early stages. 

“You two are great.” Wash breathed out a happy sigh and Carolina sat up, wet hair plastered to her face. She shook her hair, spraying the both of them with the amount still left in the cropped bob that barely brushed her shoulders. 

“We’re great? That’s all you have to say? We look amazing and we’re both totally hot and  _ war heroes _ , well, I am at least, sorry, Sam. And all you can say is ‘you two are great?’” Carolina stared at Wash, waiting for an answer as Locus looked up at Wash expectantly. Wash poked his finger into her nipple, focusing on her boob instead of her annoyance at his choice of words. 

“Boop.”

“Fucking fight me, Wash."

Wash swallowed hard, hearing the mechanical hiss of Locus’ arm. Carolina didn’t stop staring at him the entire time until Locus tapped her on the shoulder. 

“What?” Wash suppressed a laugh when Carolina noticed Locus was holding out his mechanical prosthetic out to her. 

“Need a hand in beating him down?” Locus winked at her.

“Absolutely.”


End file.
